MY TESTIMONY AT PUBLIC HEARING ON DETROIT'S PROPOSED BILLBOARDS/ADVERTISING BAN

The hearing was held Monday, 2 August 1999, starting at 10:30 am, in the City Council Committee Room, 13th floor, City County Building, Detroit.

Many came, supported the proposal. No lobbyists appeared against it. My testimony helped refute tobacco lobby disinformation that could have used to challenge the proposal.

Below is a copy of my statement as filed, in the record.

STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF BANNINGCIGARETTE BILLBOARDS/ADVERTISING

Cigarettes Are Illegal

Cigarette hazards were known a century ago, Austin v State of Tennessee, 179 US 343 (1900), upholding its 1897 cigarette ban. Cigarettes are illegal pursuant to MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216 (1909), and laws of the type that gave rise to case law including People v Carmichael, 5 Mich 10; 71 Am Dec 769 (1858); The Nurnberg Trial, 6 FRD 69 (1946); People v Kevorkian, 447 Mich 436, 494-6; 527 NW2d 714, 739-9 (1994). My contact with Governor John Engler resulted in two verifications of the law from James K. Haveman, Jr., Director of Department of Community Health.

Cigarette ads target minorities. Tobacco is typically the gateway (starter) drug, age 11-12, so 90% of criminals are smokers.
Racists deem it a "white" drug; arresting its pushers a burden on the judicial system; subsequent drugs in the drug sequence (cocaine,
etc.), "black" drugs; disproportionately arresting blacks, NOT a burden on the judicial system. This type racism is the real truth behind the
notorious Budzyn-Nevers situation.

Your council president, Gilbert Hill, can verify, the Department NEVER enforces the cigarette
ban, MCL § 750.27, only laws against post-gateway drugs—a policy of premeditated racism that not even the Coleman Young era
eradicated. Due to this intentional, pervasive, systemic racism, the ordinance is needed as a duplicative effort to try to halt it. Attend
Partnership meetings; talk privately to officers; you will verify the non-enforcement policy, including officer fear of being labeled a
"whistleblower" if they enforce the law against the "white" drug cigarettes. The racists don't want to enforce the law; and the honest
ones fear to.

Ask yourselves, would you support arrests for illegal cigarette sales? If so, have you made that fact known? Have you
ever spoken against the gateway drug? If not, why would the honest ones think you'd support them? Your silence tells the racist ones
they can continue their racist policy of arresting blacks for post-gateway drugs, but never do a thing to arrest pushers of the gateway
drug, the "white" drug. Worst case, do you use the gateway drug? If so, you are setting a bad example, encouraging crime and racism.